Amphora Research Systems

Record keeping in an academic environment can be challenging

The importance of keeping a good lab notebook is something that is instilled in scientists from their earliest days at the bench. However, particularly in the academic arena, it can be easy to view your notebook as an entirely personal record. This has a number of consequences:

• PhD students and post docs often stay at an institution for a limited time. Their lab notebook maybe in a physical notebook, a loose leaf binder or on a computer, but whatever the format it can occasionally move with the person leaving behind only the thesis or a summary. This is not ideal to say the least, especially where the research has been funded by a grant from industry, with stipulations covering the ownership of the intellectual property.
• Gripped with enthusiasm for our latest results, and assuming we are writing for our own personal records it is easy to be less than complete in the notes committed to paper or disk. Re-reading a year or more later the exact details might not be as clear as we might have thought.

Ease of use is key

For a successful take up of any new system in a university ease of use must be a given. Any new tool must not impede the flow of ideas or require step changes in the way people work. Amphora's PatentSafe solution allows everyone to carry on working the way they are used to, and using the tools which work best for them. Researchers can quickly and simply submit into their electronic notebook and sign and witness if needed.

With full text searching across the entire contents of the notebook and the ability to automatically extract useful details such as experimental id's, projects or protocols it becomes simple to keep aware of progress, make sure you are using the correct experimental conditions and avoid unnecessary duplication of work. Research under any grant can be quickly identified and gathered for a report.